Education for All

Abstract

In the last few years, India has witnessed what has perhaps been the most active period of its development in the area of basic education. As a result of the many steps that have been taken during this period, more than 95 per cent of the population today has access to primary education within a distance of one kilometre. Since 2001, the number of out-of-school children has come down from 32 million to 9.5 million. Gross enrolment ratio has risen to 82.5 in 2002-2003, while teacher-pupil ratio has improved to 1:40. Since 2001, more than 770,000 additional posts of teachers have been sanctioned across the county. The absolute number of non-literates has declined, with 120 million persons being made literate; 60 per cent of them are women. Our comprehensive school meal programme is helping to ensure that the enrolment, retention and nutritional status of primary school children improve rapidly. The Constitution has been amended to make elementary education a fundamental right for children in the age group of 6-14 years, and we are in the process of putting in place the enabling legislation to enforce this right. Clearly, our efforts are now beginning to bear fruit.